Dominican Republic :
Economy—overview: The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean representative democracy that enjoyed strong GDP growth until 2003. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. Growth turned negative in 2003 with reduced tourism, a major bank fraud, and limited growth in the US economy (the source of about 80% of export revenues), but recovered in 2004 and 2005. With the help of strict fiscal targets agreed in the 2004 renegotiation of an IMF standby loan, President FERNANDEZ has stabilized the country's financial situation. Although the economy continues to grow at a respectable rate, unemployment remains an important challenge. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. The Dominican Republic's development prospects improved with the ratification of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in September 2005.
GDP: purchasing power parity- $60 billion (2005 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 6.5% (2005 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity— $6,600 (2005 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 10.7%
industry: 31.5%
services: 57.8% (2003)
Population below poverty line: 25%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 37.9% (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.3% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 2.3 million-2.6 million (2000 est.)
Labor force—by occupation: agriculture: 17%, industry: 24.3%, services: 58.7% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: 17% (2005 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $5.322 billion
expenditures: $5.485 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.1 billion (2005)
Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco
Industrial production growth rate: 2% (2001 est.)
Electricity—production: 12.6 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 70.15%
hydro: 29.85%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity—consumption: 11.71 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs
Exports: $5.818 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports—commodities: ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods
Exports—partners: US 80%, South Korea 2.1%, Canada 1.9% (2004)
Imports: $9.747 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports—commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Imports—partners: US 48.1%, Venezuela 13.4%, Colombia 4.8%, Mexico 4.8% (2004)
Debt—external: $7.907 billion (2005)
Economic aid—recipient: $571.6million (2004)
Currency: 1 Dominican peso (RD$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: Dominican pesos (RD$) per US$1—15.949 (January 1999), 15.267 (1998), 14.265 (1997), 13.775 (1996), 13.597 (1995), 13.160 (1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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